The Trump Presidency, Season 2

[Isabeau]

I vote we rename the US president to Bloaty McBloatface.

 

[Jopsy Pendragon]

This belongs here more than in the ai-generated thread...

 

[Noodles]

I am good with this plan. We can just start dumping cement around it.

 

[Free]

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Wiped out: US faces surging toilet paper prices amid trade war with Canada

The Great American Toilet Paper Tariff Panic of 2026 Is Here

Without Canada, the US can’t make toilet paper. And we just tariffed the S*** out of what the US needs to make it.

deanblundell.substack.com

 

[Isabeau]

And they’re gonna need a lot with their mystery beef, poison lettuce, and boo-berries.

 

[detrius]

garden hose

 

[Casey Pelous]

garden hose

bidet al fresco

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Yes. Honestly, the best thing Trump has done is to serve as a warning about the rise of the far right to the rest of the world. The far right is rising almost everywhere. I saw some analysis about how Le Pen in France, far right parties in Brazil, and a few other similar candidates found themselves in embarrassing situations where they had to distance themselves from Trump. The fact most of our allies really don't like Trump has has maybe given the far right a setback in the countries he's pissed on.

If the USA has a huge economic collapse because of what he's doing, it would serve as an even stronger warning to the rest of the world.

The US is gambling with its role as the world’s investment hub (Evernote link because FT paywall)

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Sad.

Dean Blundell (@deanblundell)

Look. If you don't find it f****** hilarious watching a dying 80-year-old pedophile rapist wearing 4 pounds of bronzer drawing "Lake America" over Lake Ontario like it's some kind of genius geopolitical flex, while barely able to speak, I can't help you. 😂🇨🇦

substack.com

 

[Myradyl Muse]

New Anti-Matter Species: Genus Flatus Mutatus Pedophus

 

[Arkad Baxton]

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

Okay. Rename Erie "Lake Canada."

Lake Epsteinfiles

 

[Sid]

Exactly how the rest of the world sees it too.

 

[Noodles]

Silly Canadians can't even agree if its a Lake or a Lac.

 

[Innula Zenovka]

This is a bit tl;DR (more than a bit, really) but his main argument seems pretty persuasive.

Deadnaming the Lake

How a country agrees to be embarrassed

www.notesfromthecircus.com

Hannah Arendt gave this mechanism its name: evil that needs no monster, only clerks who process the order in front of them and never ask what it does next. The lake is a small thing to test that frame on, and the frame does not need a bigger one — the worst things on record were built the same way, out of people who each did one small, defensible piece of something indefensible. Orwell knew what the name itself was worth: control the word for a thing, and the thing changes shape. A government that can rename a lake by fiat, and make its own diplomats apologize for the old name, is rehearsing a muscle it may use on something that matters more than a lake.

 

[Veritable Quandry]

Rewatching Babylon 5. JMS used the idea of the banality of evil effectively in that series. We almost never see President Clarke doing evil things. The big bad is far away. The Post Office clerk is right there. Instead we see a progression of people just doing their jobs, staying out of politics, making the machine work one tiny step at a time.

That's why DOGE was not effective at cost cutting: the real goal was to reduce and demoralize the civil service who could resist and then either make people afraid to resist or replace them with political hires.

It's also why our military is floundering in Iran. People who were effective at planning and logistics were removed, people who gave analysis that challenged the partisan narrative were sidelined or fired. People who discussed legal limits were seen as threats. Area experts were fired in the military and the State Department.

 

[GoblinCampFollower]

Rewatching Babylon 5. JMS used the idea of the banality of evil effectively in that series. We almost never see President Clarke doing evil things. The big bad is far away. The Post Office clerk is right there. Instead we see a progression of people just doing their jobs, staying out of politics, making the machine work one tiny step at a time.

That's why DOGE was not effective at cost cutting: the real goal was to reduce and demoralize the civil service who could resist and then either make people afraid to resist or replace them with political hires.

It's also why our military is floundering in Iran. People who were effective at planning and logistics were removed, people who gave analysis that challenged the partisan narrative were sidelined or fired. People who discussed legal limits were seen as threats. Area experts were fired in the military and the State Department.

You are absolutely correct. I wanted to add that right wing tactics have maybe adjusted to the fact that they know most of their supporters are very much in a bubble they control. A lot of Trump voters have no idea how much of a disaster DOGE was because the media outlets they watch won't tell them and they sure as hell won't believe people like us! They also have mostly no clue how bad things have gotten in the Military, because they aren't hearing about it from their favorite talking heads.

...Instead we see a progression of people just doing their jobs, staying out of politics, making the machine work one tiny step at a time.

I also wanted to add to this. I think it is very frightening how many people are comfortable with basically any crime that is done in a manner that looks "official" and performed by apparent authority figures. "Just doing their jobs" is seen as a valid defense by many, many people. One Republican congressman even said that they thought Trump's blatant corruption was fine based on the fact he was doing it out in the open so boldly. I've had some bizarre conversations with MAGA's who have basically said in so many words that the law must mean a different thing than it says it means given their behavior. I also had one relative suggest that SURELY there was a good reason Brett Kavanagh would have ruled wire tapping was fine as if the 4th amendment didn't mean what it says it means.

 

[Free]

Exactly how the rest of the world sees it too.

Well, I'm sure some percentage of the world originally responded with "I didn't know there was a Lake Ontario..."

 

[Free]

Also: Continue to go fuck yourself, Google.

Google updates maps to show Lake America in the U.S. — but Canadians are now seeing it, too